Seven babies survive octuplet pregnancy

A Sicilian woman who conceived octuplets after taking fertility drugs has given birth to all eight babies, one of whom has died. Doctors caring for Mariella Mazzara at the Niguarda hospital in Milan were hoping to delay the delivery until the 27th week of pregnancy, but the first baby girl arrived last Wednesday after just 25 weeks in the womb. Following the birth of a boy at the weekend, the remaining babies - three boys and three girls - were delivered by caesarian section. The seven survivors, four girls and three boys, each weigh just over half a kilo (one pound).

Fertility experts in Italy have criticised Ms Mazzara's treatment, saying that more careful monitoring would have prevented her from conceiving such a dangerously large number of babies. The couple declined the offer of selective abortion to reduce the number of fetuses to three, which would have greatly increased their chances of survival.

Although the prognosis for the remaining Mazzara babies is poor, seven octuplets born to a US couple in December 1998 survived after they were born three months early. British woman Mandy Allwood, pregnant with octuplets in 1996, lost all eight babies, but has since given birth to three healthy children.